A

COMPREHENSIVE PROJECT REPORT

ON To Study Buying Behavior of Samsung Mobiles in Urban and Rural Areas

Submitted to

S.R. LUTHRA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT OF THE AWARD FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

In

Gujarat Technological University

UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF

Faculty Guide: Ms. Rupal Khambati Asst. Professor

Company Guide: Mr. Sagar Sonpal Branch Manager

Submitted by
Mr. Akshat Kapadia [Batch No. 2011-13, Enrollment No. 118050592024] Mr. Jaydeep Dhranga [Batch No. 2011-13, Enrollment No. 118050592038] MBA SEMESTER III

S.R. LUTHRA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT - 805

MBA PROGRAMME Affiliated to Gujarat Technological University Ahmedabad December, 2012

Company Certificate (For Sem. 3) (On Company Letterhead)

This is certified that Mr. Bharat Seth and Mr. Nishit Gori from S.R. LUTHRA INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENTare carrying out the research on the subject titled Analyzing Investing Pattern of Investors during Recession at this company / organization under the supervision of Mr. Anil Patel, from Sep, 2012to Dec, 2012. I alsocertify that, the above mentioned students have carried the research worksatisfactorily.

Place: - Surat

Date: - _________ (to be announced later on) ___________ _____ (Name & Designation)

Students Declaration

We, Mr. Akshat Kapadia& Mr. Jaydeep Dhranga, hereby declare that the report for Comprehensive Project entitled To Study Buying Behavior of Samsung Mobiles in Urban and Rural Areas is a result of our own work and our indebtedness to other work publications, references, if any, have been duly acknowledged.

Place: Surat

Date: 05/01/2013 __________________ (Akshat Kapadia)

__________________ (Jaydeep Dhranga)

Institutes Certificate

Certified that this Comprehensive Project Report Titled To Study Buying Behaviour of Samsung Mobiles in Urban and Rural Areas is the bonafide work of Mr. Akshat Kapadia (Enrollment No. 118050592024) and Mr. Jaydeep Dhranga (Enrollment No. 118050592038), who carried out the research under my supervision. I also certify further, that to the best of my knowledge the work reported herein does not form part of any other project report or dissertation on the basis of which a degree or award was conferred on an earlier occasion on this or any other candidate.

Place: Surat Date: 05/01/2013

___________________ Rupal Khambati (Asst. Professor)

___________________ J.M. Kapadia (I/C Director)

PREFACE
In todays competitive world, every company is striving hard to increase their market share and for that they should make customers their loyal customers and attract new customers. To accomplish these goals, first and foremost need is to understand what customers want and this can be done through Understanding Consumer Buying Behavior regarding that product. Consumer behavior is the dynamic interaction of affect and cognition, behavior and environmental events by which human beings conduct the exchange aspects of their lives. Companies are interested in consumer behavior because they can develop marketing strategies to influence consumers to purchase their products based on consumer analysis. The success of a companys marketing strategy will depend on how buyers react to it. To find out what customers want, marketers must examine the main influences on what, where, when and how customers buy goods and services. By understanding these factors better, marketers are better able to predict how consumers will respond to marketing strategies. Ultimately, this information helps companies compete more effectively in the marketplace and leads to more satisfied customers. The emphasis in the project is providing the study and an insight into Indian MOBILE market. The Summer Project is designed to provide participation of PGDM program as on the job experience. This has given a chance to try and apply the academic knowledge and gain insight into consumer behavior while purchasing Mobile Handsets. This helps in developing decision-making abilities and emphasizes on active participation by the student. I gained valuable experience & knowledge during the survey. The Project consists of my findings from the survey & then conclusions were drawn and finally recommendations were put forward for adopting new Marketing Strategies to target various kinds of consumers.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This is the pleasure movement for me to explicate my energized intelligence. Thanks to Co Coordinator Mr. Sagar sonpal and to my guide Miss. Prof.Ms.rupal khambati I would like to thank S.R luthra institute of management as well as Shivam sales (Samsung mobile distributor, south Gujarat). For accommodating advice during the project Research and help provided by them in preparation of this report. This report is guided by their co-operation and practicable suggestion. This study work could be finished with in the period. I got chance to recognize my gratitude to all staff to M.B.A. department for making Available all facilities to complete the research work. As well as to all others who extended the Precious co-operation by providing all documents and details required for this work

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
.

The title of the study is Study of the consumer behaviour for purchasing Mobile Handsets. This study was conducted under the Research International of IMRB International on behalf of different mobile brand handsets. IMRB International is a leading market research company in India to provide the market research reports to well established national companies. The study was carried out in and around Surat City and duration was of two month During the study I have visited to the respondents who are currently using and used in the past the various mobile handsets of some branded companies Each respondent has given his feedback and suggestion which can be help to identify the consumer behaviour for purchasing different mobile handsets. Some of the respondent needs more information about different mobile brand handsets which has given me to show them at the more information about different mobile brand handsets which has given me to show them at the time of interview and show satisfactory responses regarding purchased of different mobile handsets. Apart from this project I have done different assignments given by my guided faculty

TABLE OF CONTENTS
o o o o o o Companys Certificate Students Declaration Institutes Certificate Preface Acknowledgement Executive Summary

Sr. Particulars No.

1. 2. Introduction Industry Profile a. Global b. National c. PESTEL d. Current trends e. Major Players f. Major Offerings 3. Company Profile a. Company Profile b. Divisions/ Departments c. SWOT d. Market Position 4. 5. Review of Literature Research Methodology a. Problem Statement b. Research Objective c. Research Design i. ii. iii. iv. v. 6. Bibliography Type of Design Sampling Data Collection Tools for Analysis Limitations of the Study 45

Page No.
5 19 19

42 34

45

INTRODUCTION

Industry profile

ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF CELLPHONE INDUSTRY

The basic concept of cell phones began in1947, when researchers look dat mobile car phones and realized that by using small cells (rangeofservice area)with frequency reuse, they could increase the traffic capacity for mobile hones substantially.However,at that time, the technology to do so was notavailable.

Anything to do with broadcasting and sending outdoor television message over their waves comes under the control of Federal Communications Commission(FCC)Regulation of the United States .A cell phone is a type oft two- way radio. In1947, AT&T (AmericanTelephone&Telegraph) proposed that the FCC allocates a large number of radio-spectrum frequencies so that widespread mobile telephone service would be come feasible and AT&T would have an incentive to research the new t technology .The FCC decided to limit the number off frequencies available In1947,the limits made only twenty-three phone conversations possible simultaneously in the same service area.

AT&T and Bell Laboratories proposed a cell phone system to the FC Co many small, low-powered ,broadcast towers ,each covering a' cell ' a few miles in radius and collectively covering an area. Each tower would use only a few of the total frequencies allocated to the system. As the phones travel across the area, calls would be passed from tower to tower. (Rastogi2003)

HISTORYOF CELL PHONE

Martin Cooper,a former general manager for the systems division at Motorola, is considered the inventor of the first modern portable handset. Bell Laboratories introduced the idea of cell phone communications in 1947 with the police car technology .However, Motorola was the first to incorporate the technology into a portable device that was designed for use outside an automobile.

By1977 ,AT&T and Bell Labor at or less had constructed a proto type cellular system .A year later ,public trial soft then new system were started in Chicago with over 2000 trial customers .In 1979 ,in a separate venture, the first commercial cell phone system began its preparation in Tokyo. In 1981, Motorola and American Radio Telephone st a rted a seco nd U. S. cell phone radiotelephone system test in the Washington / Baltimore area. By 1 9 8 2 , t h e slowmoving FCC finally a u t h o r i z e d commercial cellular service for USA .A year later, the first American commercial an a logy cell phone service or AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service)was made available in Chicago by Ameritech.

Despite the incredible demand ,it took 37 years for cell phone services to become commercially available in the United States. Consumer demand quickly out stripped the 1982 system standards.By1987, cellphones subscribers exceeded one million and the airways were crowded.(COAI2005)

CELL PHONE SUBSCRIBERS15TOP RANKINGCOUNTRIES

The world wide number of cell phone subscribers surpassed 2 billions in 2005up from11million in 1990 and 750 million in 2000.China led the cellophane subscribe rs list with nearly 400 million as at the end of 2005nearly twice as many as in the USA.Russia has seen tremendous growth in the last few years and is projected to be running n third place by the year-end 2005.Rapid expansion of cell phones in India will see a future climb in the rankings to a possible number two in 2010.World wide cell phone subscribers are estimated to reach 3.2 billion by the end of the year 2010.

Table 1

Top15Countries withtheNumberofCellPhoneSubscribers

Year2005 China USA Russia Japan Brazil India Germany Italy UK France Mexico Turkey Spain SouthKorea Indonesia Top15countries WorldwideTotal

Cellphonesubscribers (in Share (Percent) millions) 398 202 115 95 86 79 73 59 58 47 46 40 39 38 38 1,414 2,065 19.3 9.9 5.6 4.6 4.1 3.8 3.5 2.9 2.8 2.3 2.2 1.9 1.9 1.8 1.8 68.5 100

Source:BusinessWire,Sep262005

The rankings will change considerably by 2010 and will mainly consist of the large populous countries and they will surpass the smaller European countries that were early mobile phone adopters .The European countries will continue to lead cell phone subscribersper capita along with a few Asian countries such as Hong Kong and Taiwan.

WORLDWIDEMARKET SHARE OF MOBILE PHONES

World wide market share of various mobile companies has been analyzed by Gartner. Gartner is the world leading information technology research and advisory company. The results of the analysis are presented in the table below.

Table 2

WORLDWIDE MARKET SHARE OF CELL PHONESBETWEEN 2004AND2005

Year 2005 (in Company Nokia Motorola Samsung LG SonyEricson Siemens Others Total 2004 Percent Increase thousands) Percent percent 60,794 34,018 24,479 12,374 11,843 8,895 38,096 190,499 31.9 17.8 12.8 6.5 6.2 4.7 20 100 (2004-05) 2.3 2.2 0.7 0.4 -0.4 -2.2 3.0

(inthousands) 29.6 46,368 24,626 18,981 9,495 10,354 10,823 35,997 1,56,643 15.7 12.1 6.1 6.6 6.9 23.1 100

From the table, it is inferred that Nokia had the highest market share of 29.6percent worldw ide during the year 2004 and Motorola 15.7percent. During 2005, Nokia expanded its market share to 31.9 percent worldwide, and Motorolas share increased to 17.8percent. The companies expect a greater increase in the near future in their market share.

HISTORYOF CELL PHONESININDIA

A report of Cellular Operators Authority of India regarding the entry of cell phones into India is listed below. This shows the improvement in cell phone introduction over the years. 1992Telecommunication sector in India was liberalized to bridge the gap through government spending and to provide additional resources for the nations telecomtarget. Private sector was allowed participation. 1993 The telecom industry got an annual foreign investment Rs.20.6millions. 1994License for providing cell phone services was granted by the government of India for the metropolitan cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. Cell phone service became duopoly (i.e. not more than two cell phone operators could be licensed in each telecom circle) under a fixed license fee regime for 10years. 199519 more telecom circles got mobile licenses 1995-(August)Kolkata became the first metro with a cell phone network.

1997-TRAI was setup. 1998Annual foreign investment in telecom stood at Rs.17, 756.4millions. 1999-FD In flow in to telecom sector almost 90 percent of Rs.2126.7 millions. 1999 Tariff rebalancing exercise got initiated. 1999(March)-National Telecom Policy was announced. 2000(June)-FD I inflow dropped further down to Rs.918millions. 2000(Jan)-Amendment of TRAI Act. Source: CellularOperators AuthorityofIndia (COAI)

COMPARISONOF

CELL

PHONE

AND

FIXEDTELEPHONE

SUBSCRIBERBASEININDIA

Indiassubscriberbasefortelephoneservicescontinuedtomaintainits generalgrowth.Therewasanincreaseinthegrowthrateofbothmobileaswellas fixedtelephone subscribers. DuringApril2005,1.44millionsmobilesubscribers

wereaddedraisingthetotalnumberofmobilesubscribers toaround53.65millions.

Table 3

ComparisonofSubscriberadditions duringApril20042005

Subscribers inMillions 2004 Category March April Additions duringthe month 1.37 0.40 1.77 2005 March April Additions duringthe month 1.44 0.59

Mobile Fixed

33.60 42.58

34.97 42.98 77.95

52.21 45.91 98.12

53.65 46.50

Total 76.18 Subscribers Source:TRAI

100.15 2.03

Thetableshows thecomparisonofthesubscriberadditionstomobileandfixed phonesduringthemonthofAprilfortheyears2004-2005. AttheendofApril2005,

totalfixedlinescrossed46millionsandmobilesreachedaround54millionsmakinga totaloftelephonesubscribersinthecountrytocross100millions.Teledensityofthe countryhadreached9.26percentascomparedto9.08percentattheendofMarch, 2005.

COMPANY PROFILE

Samsung Telecommunications is one of five business units within Samsung Electronics, belonging to the Samsung Group, and consists of the Mobile Communications Division, Telecommunication Systems Division, Computer Division, MP3 Business Team, Mobile Solution Centre and

Telecommunication R&D Centre. Telecommunication Business produces a full spectrum of products from mobiles and other mobile devices such as MP3 players and laptop computers to telecommunication network

infrastructure. Headquarters is located in Suwon, South Korea. In 2007 Samsung Telecommunication Business reported over 40% growth and became the second largest mobile device manufacturer in the world. [1] Its market share was 14% in Q4 2007, growing up form 11.3% in Q4 2006. At the end of November 2011, Samsung sold more than 300 million mobile devices and set still in second after Nokia with 300.6 million mobile devices sold in the first three quarter of 2011.

Samsung Mobiles in India is managed by Samsung Telecommunications India (STI) who are the design and technology leaders in the market of mobiles. The Samsung mobile division in India manufacturers and markets wide variety of mobile telecommunications products with pre pay and post pay markets in the consumer as well as business segments. There are 3 different conglomerates which are united under one Samsung group. Samsung Electronics is the part of its business conglomerate and also the worlds largest electronics company. Samsung Mobiles is also a part of Samsung Electronics which works in semi conductors, telecommunications, digital media and digital LCD appliances. The Headquarter of Samsung is in South Korea and at present it operates in more than 100 countries. The mobile phones by Samsung are mainly divided into 6 major categories that include style, Multimedia, Infotainment, Essential, Business and Connected.

The company is known for introducing consumer oriented innovative and breakthrough technology products and the new brand positioning of the company is reflected in its spunky and new tagline Next is What? which is used in all the communication material of Samsung. Some of the popular handsets of Samsung are: Samsung Corby Samsung Guru 100 Samsung Pixon M8800 Samsung Omnia Pro

CDMA era (19961998) Samsung developed its first CDMA mobile phone in March 1996, to coincide with the launch of CDMA service. The first digital handset, the SCH-100, was extra light and slim, and enabled clear voice communication. Before long, Samsung became the leader in the Personal Communications Service (PCS) market. It partnered with KTFreetel and HansolPCSto provide PCS phones. Its first PCS phone, the SCH-1100, entered the market with innovative features, including a lightweight body, enhanced battery life, and the ability to capture delicate sounds. The design was targeted at the young generation because the young generation had emerged as a large and growing customer base. It also shifted its marketing communications strategy. For the CDMA cellular market, it emphasized the phone's new functions, for example, its voice recognition feature. For the PCS market, the company coined a new slogan, "Strong in small sounds," to emphasize the mobile phone's capability to capture delicate sounds. By the end of 1997, one year after the CDMA service was first launched; Samsung had achieved a 57% market share in the CDMA cellular market and 58% in the PCS market. Also, in April 1997, it achieved sales of one million CDMA phone unit

Global market and GSM era (1998 on) Samsung made its first foray into the global market in 1996, when it exported its PCS phones to Sprint, an American CDMA carrier. Sprint signed $600 million contract with Samsung, under which Samsung would provide

its PCS phones to Sprint for three years under the co-branded name SprintSamsung. After this Samsung expanded into Hong Kong (Hutchinson, CDMA) in 1997, and Brazil (TELESP and TELERJ, CDMA) in 1998. After successfully exporting to Brazil, Samsung built a mobile phone production facility in Brazil in 1998, in the hopes of expanding into Latin America. In 1999, Samsung secured the number one position in the worldwide CDMA market where it accounted for more than 50% of market share. However, the worldwide CDMA market was far smaller than the GSM market, which accounted for 70% of the total worldwide mobile communications market. Moreover, the domestic market was approaching saturation, and competition was becoming more intense. Thus, to achieve further growth, Samsung had to penetrate the GSM market. The first GSM model was the SGH-200, which was made for European customers. But it was not as good as the company's CDMA phone. It was difficult to hurdle the high entry barrier, which the then "Big

3" Nokia, Motorola, and Ericsson had built for years. The company's next few models didn't attract Europeans, either. The development team realized that a simple change in the circuit system wouldn't work in the European market. Thus, it decided to look more closely at the customer's point of view. They found that Europeans preferred geometric, balanced, and simple designs. Using this information, Samsung adopted 'simple' as the design concept, then developed a new design to suit the tastes of Europeans. The SGH-600 was born in September 1998. To market this

model, Samsung changed its market entry strategy by adopting a high-end strategy. Samsung needed to escape from its low-end image. It figured that its

new mobile phone, with its sophisticated design and distinguished functionality, would help it do just that. Samsung was granted the "Best Manufacturer" award twice by the Mobile News Awards, an award that was previously given to Nokia and Ericsson.

Samsung in India brought its first mobile in the year 2004.In 2008, Samsung Electronics' Telecommunication Business declared its new business strategy focusing on consumer and marketing. Samsung mobile phones are divided into 6 major categories Style, Infotainment, Multimedia, Connected, Essential and Business.

LITERATURE REVIEW

A mobile phone is a portable telephone that does not use a wired connection. It connects to a wireless carrier network using radio waves. To use a mobile phone, one needs to buy a handset and sign up with a wireless service provider for a calling plan. Handsets are sold at retail outlets, electronics stores, wireless service dealers and Web-based retailers. Handsets come in a wide variety of styles, sizes, screens, keypads, software and capabilities. Wikipedia defines mobile phone as: a long-range, portable electronic device used for mobile communication. In addition to the standard voice function of a telephone, current mobile phones can support many additional services such as; SMS for text messaging, email, packet switching for access to the Internet and MMS for sending and receiving photos and video. Our findings will help us give suggestions on what actions mobile phone manufacturers might take in order to fill the gap between consumer behavior and the company marketing efforts. The purpose of this study is to analyze the role of corporate branding in mobile telecommunication industry. What are reasons that make customers purchase mobile phone connection of any particular company.

Cellular phones got more attention of marketing researchers as look upon the Acceptance procedure (Saaksjarvi, 2003). Rogers (1976) has provided a classification of consumers in expressions of innovators, early adopters, early majority late majority and laggards. But now a days consumers are also give the impression of being into the compatibility of the new products to their selfimage and life style (Saaksjarvi, 2003). Funk and Ndubisi (2006) study a significant involvement between color and the choice of an automobile. The study by Funk and Ndubisi (2006) further recognizes the gender moderation on the product choice. Barak and Gould (1985) found that younger consumers are superior fond of stylish goods than older ones. Young consumers have more interest in purchasing new products and they have information seeking behavior. And this behavior makes them self-confident and this self-confident leads to become a opinion leader which leads toward brand switching

(Szmigin and Carrigan, 2001). Gupta (1987) studied the factors which motivate consumers while buy durables he found that brand choice, source of information, role of family members and customer satisfaction is the significant factors. Shanthi, R (2005) work on the perceptual dimensions of brand association with reference to mobile users. Singh (2011) compare the rural and urban market of India and found there are moderate differences automobiles between rural and urban consumers. There is a significant positive relation with income of consumers and buying behavior of consumers (Singh2011). Williams (2002) argues that deviation in attitude, motivation and value orientations associated with differences in occupational opportunities and demands, childhood socialization patterns and educational influences may lead consumers to vary in many of their purchase behaviors across social classes. Rahman and Bhattacharyya (2003) studied about emerging markets and discuss the significance of emerging markets in the global business and places of interest how the road and rail network condition and consumer orientation in an emerging market support a first mover. Wilska (2003) argues that the conventional gender division in mobile phone use styles that could be observed is motivating in the light of assumptions that genders are flattering more similarly in their use of new technology. Sun and Wu (2004) studied Chinese market and found that Chinese rural and urban consumers are to be statistically dissimilar in provisions of their attitudes toward the whole marketing mix: product price, brand names, promotions and distribution. Gupta (1988) found that sales promotions have impact on consumer buying behavior. Lee and Feick (2001) argues that customer satisfaction contribute positively in customer retention. To explain the link Lee and Feick (2001) found that switching cost plays a very important role. Switching cost further linked with quality. Mobile Phone Company focus on quality it will increase customer satisfaction.

From marketing perspective, consumer choice behavior can be studied through the classical five-step (needinformation searchevaluation of alternativespurchasepost-purchase evaluation) problem solving paradigm or through the progression of consumer choice from a product class to brand choice (Dorsch, Grove, and Darden, 2000). The five-step model is usually suitable for decision making that assumes rational problem solving behavior and, in most cases, complex decision making. The acquisition of a new mobile phone follows this traditional view of buying process, but is in many situations also affected by symbolic values related to brands.

Consumer choice behavior has some important prevailing conditions that must be taken into account while studying choice. In the light of the classical problem solving buying behavior, consumers engage in information search before making the actual choice. Consumer decision making process is usually guided by already formed preferences for a particular alternative. This means that consumers are likely to make the choice between alternatives based on limited information search activity (Beatty and Smith, 1987; Moorthy, Ratchford and Talukdar, 1997) and without detailed evaluation of the other alternatives (Alba and Hutchinson, 2000; Chernev, 2003; Coupey, Irwin and Payne, 1998; Slovic, 1995). In close relation to information search, evaluation of alternatives has also gained a momentum in recent research (Laroche, Kim and Matsui, 2003). Their study on consumers use of five heuristics (conjunctive, disjunctive, lexicographic, linear additive, and geometric compensatory) in the consideration set formation found that conjunctive heuristics is the most often used decision model in the consideration set formation for two product classes in the study (beer brands and fast food outlets). Conjunctive heuristics means that a consumer selects a brand only if it meets acceptable standards, the so-called cutoff point on each key attribute consumer regards as important (Assail, 1995, p. 249; Solomon, 2001, p. 280). In this non-compensatory method of evaluation, a consumer would eliminate a brand that does not fulfill the standards on one or two of the most important attributes, even it is positive on all other attributes. We limit our analysis in this paper to consumer choice that can range from choice oriented referring to a decision on which alternative to purchase from a set of alternatives, whether

or not to purchase, or whether to purchase now or later to value oriented choice (Shuv and Huber, 2000). The latter refers to an evaluation setting, in which each alternative is evaluated on different value criteria. Furthermore, consumer choice behavior can either be approached by utilizing different choice models (see, e.g., Chintagunta, 1999; Bockenholt and Dillon, 2000; Swait and Adamowicz, 2001) or neural networks to model selection decisions (e.g., Papatla, Zahedi and Zekic-Susac, 2002). Papatla et al. (2002) examined empirically brand choice and store choice in regard to margarine, detergent and tissue. The research found that while neural networks have higher probability of resulting in a better performance, hybrid models guaranteed equal or better results than standalone models. It has also been pointed that many decision strategies used by consumers can change due to person-, context-, and task-specific factors (Dhar, Nowlis and Sherman, 2000; Swait and Adamowicz, 2001). Therefore, mathematical modeling has its limitations in regard to the fact that consumers tend to utilize different approaches to make choices. Thereby, researchers should pay more attention to factors like task complexity and context in modeling choice behavior (cf. Swait and Adamowicz, 2001). Moreover, Coupey, Irwin and Payne (1998) found that the influence of task and context factors might be greater in situations in which consumer has little prior knowledge and experience. It is widely accepted that the traditional problem solving approach involving rational decision making to the study of consumer choice may not be suitable for all situations, or is at least incomplete to understand choice behavior. Limited information search and evaluation of alternatives led to a situation in which consumer choice is also driven by hedonic considerations (e.g., Dhar and Wertenbroch, 2000). In general, a common distinction to be made is that while the utilitarian goods usually are primary instrumental and functional, hedonic goods provide fun, pleasure and excitement. It has been noted that many choices have both utilitarian and hedonic features (Batra and Ahtola, 1990), and thus it can also be proposed that the choice between mobile phones has both utilitarian (e.g., communication, time planning) and hedonic (e.g., games, camera) features. The younger the consumer the more hedonistic features consumers tend to value in mobile phones (Wilska, 2003). Quite similarly, consumer choice can

also be approached from the perspective of conscious and nonconscious choice (e.g., Fitzsimons et al., 2002). Quite many choice situations occur outside of conscious awareness and with limited information search (Kivetz and Simonson, 2000) and it can be stated that many choices have both conscious and nonconscious motives. Fitzsimons et al. (2002) found that in many cases nonconscious influences affect choice much more than is traditionally believed by researchers.

A brief literature would be of immense help to the researcher in gaining insight into selected Problem. The researcher would gain good background knowledge of the problem by reviewing certain studies. A reference to these entire studies will be related in the context of the shaping the present study.

1. Factors Affecting Consumer Choice of Mobile Phones Two Studies from Finland By: HeikkiKarjaluoto, JariKarvonen, ManneKesti, TimoKoivumaki,

MarjukkaManninen, JukkaPakola, AnnuRistola, JariSalo

Published in Journal of Euromarketing, Vol. 14(3) 2005 All the factors that affect the choice are Demographical factors, Psychological factors and various factors affecting mobile phone choice and what are the sources of information before Purchasing mobile phones.

2. Mobile Handset Buying Behavior of Different Age and Gender Groups By: Jagwinder Singh

Dept. of Management, Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Deemed University B BGoyal University Business School, Punjab University Published in International Journal of Business and Management The study concludes that the mobile handset users of age group of 18-30 years are less price Sensitive than consumers of other groups; rather they consider physical appearance, brand, value added features, and core

technical features more important than users of any other age groups. On the contrary, the consumers of age group 50 years and above have given Greater importance to price than consumers of other age groups. There were significant Differences between different age groups as regards to the importance given to all the factors Except post - purchase services. The difference was highest for the brand closely followed By core technical features of the handset.

3. The Mobile Phone Market By: Peter W. Turnbull; Sheena Leek; Grace Ying

Published in Journal of Marketing Management, Volume 16, Issue 1 - 3 February 2000 The findings reveal that although consumer confusion exists in the mobile phone market, it does not have a detrimental effect on the market. In addition, the findings also suggest that Suppliers should build up a strong brand image and be aware of the importance of word of Mouth sources since both of these are considered to be very significant reference points for Consumers. Finally, customer care is essential for customer retention.

Previous literature on mobile handset choice is sparse. Couple of academic articles have dealt with mobile phone usage and grasped the consumer decision making process. To begin with, Agrawal&Famolari (1999)1 examined how much self-knowledge consumers have when choosing between different mobile phone brands. The study was built upon six key attributes (telephone features, connection fee, access cost, mobile-to-mobile phone rates, call rates and number of free calls) related to mobile phone purchasing respondents had to importance rate. The research showed that consumers with prior experience about a product can predict their choices relatively well, although

respondents tended to overestimate the importance of features, call rates and free calls and underestimate the importance of a monthly access fee, mobileto-mobile phones rates and the connection fee. Mobile phone choice and use has also been found to be related to prior consumption styles. According to a fresh survey of Finnish young people aged 16-20, it was found that mobile phone choice and especially usage is consistent with respondents general consumption styles (Balasubramanian et. al 2002)2. The research showed that addictive use was common among females and was related to trendy and impulsive consumption styles. Instead, males were found to have more technology enthusiasm and trend-consciousness. These attributes were then linked to impulsive consumption. The study concluded that genders are becoming more alike in mobile phone choice. In smart phones, consumers value features that enhance their personal time planning (Banerjee &Rao, 2004)3. These high-rated features include calendar and e-mail services. It is interesting to note that according to Jones the so-called killer services such as gaming, gambling and music downloads are not seen that important in the diffusion of smart phones.

Definition of Cellular/Mobile phone The Cellular telephone (commonly "mobile phone" or "cell phone" or "hand phone") is a long-range, portable electronic device used for mobile communication. In addition to the standard voice function of a telephone, current mobile phones can support many additional services such as SMS for text messaging, email, packet switching for access to the Internet, and MMS for sending and receiving photos and video. Most current mobile phones connect to a cellular network of base stations (cell sites), which is in turn interconnected to the public switched telephone network (PSTN) (the exception is satellite phones. Cellular telephone is also define as a type of short-wave analog or digital telecommunication in which a subscriber has a wireless connection from a mobile telephone to a relatively nearby transmitter. The transmitter's span of coverage is called a cell. Generally, cellular telephone service is available in urban areas and along major highways. As

the cellular telephone user moves from one cell or area of coverage to another, the telephone is effectively passed on to the local cell transmitter. A cellular telephone is not to be confused with a cordless telephone (which is simply a phone with a very short wireless connection to a local phone outlet). A newer service similar to cellular is personal communications services (PCS).

2.2 Brand preferences and advertisement Students leant about cellular phone from many sources, mainly from friends and families, through advertisement and from their own experience. Whether a promotion and advertising hurt or help a brand is under-researched (Mela, Gupta & Lehman, 1997). In the long-run, advertisement help brands by making consumer less price sensitive and more loyal. Exposure of an ad is crucial to be effective in changing consumer knowledge, attitude and behaviour (Evans,Moutinho& Van Raaj, 1996). And for the ad to be seen, it must grab the attention of its target audience. Ads originality as defined from Pietes, Warlop and Wedel, (2002) were easier for customer to remember than ordinary ads by increasing attention to it. This thus increased attention to the brand being advertised. However, regardless of the content, ads for brand leaders are more successful due to the influence of the brand (Simon, 1970). Ads for less popular brands may be less successful even though the content may be good. Liking towards the brand itself can influence liking for the brand (Hawkins, Best & Coney, 1992). However according to study by Biehal, Stephens and Curlo (1992) whether consumers like or dislike an ad does not necessarily lead to brand acceptance or rejection. So, even though consumers may like the ad that they see, it does not necessarily mean that they will go out and buy the brand advertised. Usually the consumer uses their attitude towards the ad (Aad) in brand choice equaled that of attitude towards the brands (AB). Advertisers must remember that advertising messages are interpretend differently between different genders (Maldonando, Tansuhaj&Muehling, 2003; Hogg &Garrow, 2003; Putrevu, 2001).Prevoiusstudy have proven that females were more likely to engage in elaboration than men (Maldonado &Muehling, 2003). Hogg

and Garrow (2003) found that women paid more intention about the details of the characters of an ad when asked to analyze advertising messages. They said that this may be explained by the fact that females have a greater tendency than men to consider external information and information related to others. Women are comprehensive processors who try to gather all available information about the product.

In building brand preferences, Alreck and Settle (1999) proposed six strategies: 1. Need association- the product/brand linked to need through repeated messages. 2. Mood associations- brands should be associated with good feelings through slogans, songs. 3. Subconscious motivation-use of symbol to excite consumers subconscious motives. 4. Behaviour modification-consumers are conditioned to buy the brand by controlling cues and rewards. 5. Cognitif processing-penetrating perceptual and cognitive barriers to create favourable attitudes towards the brand/product. 6. Model emulation- portraying idealized lifestyles for consumers to imitate. However, this study focused only on the symbolic or tangible elements in influencing brand preference. It did not discuss tangible aspects (i.e product characteristics) of influencing brand preference. Advertisement can change consumers perception of a product in terms of attributes content and proportion and also influence consumers taste for attributes ( Gwin&Gwin, 2003)

2.3 Brand preference and product attribute Attributes are the characteristic or features that an object may or may not have and includes both intrinsic and extrinsic (Mowen& Minor, 1998) .Benefits is the positive outcomes that come from the attributes.People seek products that have attributes that will solve their problems and fulfills their needs (Mowen& Minor, 1998). Understanding why a consumer choose a product

based upon its attributes helps marketers to understand why some consumers have preferences for certain brands (Gwin&Gwin, 2003). In the study by Gwin and Gwin (2003), the Lancaster model of consumer demand (1966, 1979), also reffered to as the product attributes model,was used to evaluate brand positioning. This model assumes that consumer choice is based on the characteristics (or attributes) of a brand.Each product is abundle of attributes and that choice is based on maximizing utility/satisfaction from the attritubes subject to budget constraints. However there were two limitations of the model: (1) the model is static and deterministic and (2) the model does not explain how the preferences for attributes were formed.This article also alsodidi not mention if experience with the product played a part in influencing attributes preferences. Both tangible nad intangible attributes of a product are equally important in choosing a product or brand (Myers, 2003). There is no evidence that certain attributes are more related to customer loyalty than others (Romariuk& Sharp, 2003). It was, found though, that the more attributes (non-negative) associated with a brand, the more loyal the customer (Romariuk& Sharp,2003).Romariuk and Sharp (2003) suggested that marketers should focus more on how many attributes the brand should be associated with and not what attributes. However, this study did not specify what sort of attributes marketers should associate the brand with; i.e. whether they should be relevant or irrelevant attributes, tangible or intangible etc.This is because it is important that consumer accurately lean about product attribute performances since it would influence their interpretations of product performance by causing memory encode and retrieval bias.Unfounded product attribute relationship beliefs can mislead them into expecting something that is not there.(Mason &Bequette, 1998). Hence if products fall short of customer expectataions,thendissactisfaction would

result.Nevertheless, it was found that through irrelevant, some attributes may still be important in influencing consumer choice.Persistent preferences for product attribute soccurs when there is low ambiguity in the initial potential choice for salient attributes coupled with experience,although those attributes maybe irrelevant (i.e. an attributes usually not associated with favourable brand outcomes (Muthukrishnan&Kardes, 2001). Consequently, Mason and Bequette (1998) also said that perceptions on product performance based on

salient attributes are more important in influencing the consumer purchase behaviour than actual product attribute performances. Similarly, Myers (2003) concluded that brand equity may be more influenced by attribute knowledge more than consumer preference. For low-involvement products, consumers have more objective view of the nature of the attrinutes (eg. food, cosmetics) because they are constantly being advertised and promoted.SimilarlyRioo, Vasquez and Iglesias (2001) sugggeated that consumer evaluation of a product can be broken down into evaluation related to product (tangible or physical attributes) and brand name (intangible attributes, or images added to the product due to its brand names). In his study on the relationship between human values and consumer purchases, Allen (2001) found there was a significant association between human values (eg. hedonistic, achievement, self-direction, conformity, security etc.), product preference and tangible attribute importance with how consumers perceive the product (i.e tangible attributes) and how they evaluate the product (i.e symbolic meaning,tangible/intangible attribute importance). Human values influence the importance of the products tangible attribute importances that are already important to consumers. However perception of product performance on the salient attributes are more important than actual performance (Mason &Bequette, 1998).Mowen and Minor (1998) suggested that marketing managers should know the attributes that consumers expect in a product and how positively or negatively they rate these attributes to help develop and promote a successful product.Retailers need to be knowledgeable of the product attributes perceived as the most important by each individual consumer group in order to build and maintain market share (Warrington & Shim, 2000). It is the consumer who determines which attributes matter to them. Different consumer groups place different importance on different attributes (Warrington & Shim,2000).It was found that consumers categoriez as LP/SB (low product involvement/strong brand commitment) placed greater importance on product attributes and product orientataions than LP/WB (weak brand commitment) consumers, which placed the most importance on price. Markerters should consider using advertisement, which may play a role in making attributee important to consumers that might not have been considered before (Gwin&Gwin,

2003),Romariuk& Sharp (2003) suggested two objectives of short-term and longterm brand building. In the short term, managers need to identify a specific attributes to be communicated to the market,based on which message gave the best execution.The key aim is to develop likeable advertisement.In the long-run,managers need to build up a bank of consumer perception about the brand to make it the one most often thought of and make it difficult for competitors to have access to the minds of consumers (Romariuk& Sharp, 2003). The brand name of the product itself is an important attribute. Brands have both functional (product-related) and symbolic dimensions (del

Rio,Vasquez&Iglesiaz, 2001), On the product related benefit side, consumer evaluate product performance based on its capabilities, usage effectiveness, value for money and reliability. The purchase and consumption of products is increasing regarded by consumers as an indirect way of communication to improve their self image and deliver certain impressions to other people in their environment (del Rio,Vasquez&Iglesiaz, 2001), Therefore the brand name benefits perceived by consumers is highly interrelated to the productbased benefits. Big brand means a better image and a better product (del Rio,Vasquez&Iglesiaz, 2001), Howevwer, as mention earlier, Mason and Bequette (1998) suggested that perceived product performance is more important than actual attribute performance. Similarly Myers (2003) concluded that brand equity might be influenced by attribute knowledge more than consumer preference. This may be due to consumer biasness and prejudice, Consumers product evaluations are influenced by memory. The biasness can be reduced by having current information, experience and knowledge (Mason and Bequette ,1998). Therefore, its not surprising that brands that consumers believe offer superior value are most preferred brands chosen often (Myers, 2003). Brands with higher equity resulted in greater preferences and high market shares. Price is another form of attribute used by consumers to evaluate a product.Price can sometimes be an indicator of quality; with a higher price indicating higher quality (Mowen& Minor, 1998; Siu& Wong, 2002). Consumers perceive that a higher price can be attributed to the higher cost of quality control (Siu& Wong, 2002). Some consumers are highly price sensitive

(elastic demand),whereby a high prices may shift consumers to competitive brands (Mowen& Minor, 1998). Therefore price can have a positive or negative influence on customers.

Objectives
Primary Objective

1. To compare buying between rural as well as urban area regarding Samsung mobile.

Secondary objective 1. To find the attributes which influenced the customers in selecting particular? Mobile handsets? 2. To study the consumers behaviour towards different mobile handsets. 3. To know specific aspects related to the buying behavior of the mobile users. 4. To know the consumer preferences and choices. 5. To know the potential of the market and expand into new markets and business. 6. To determine whether there is a significant difference between preferences for features of smart phones on the basis of gender. 7. To identify the most effective medium for advertisement of smart phone.

Research Methodology

Research Title- To study buying behaviour of Samsung mobile in urban and rural area Research Design:

Descriptive Studies: Descriptive studies are undertaken in many circumstances. When the researcher is interested in knowing the characteristics of certain groups such as age, sex, educational level, occupation or income, a descriptive study may be necessary. Other cases where descriptive study could be taken up are when the objective of study is to answer the question like who, when, where and why of the subject under investigation. Descriptive studies can be divided into two broad categories cross-sectional and longitudinal. Here the crosssectional research design has been used. Sampling Plan: Sample population: All the people who live in rural and urban area in Surat District. Sampling unit: All Mobile Users in rural and urban area Sample size: Sampling technique: Convenience Sampling Under the title of NonProbability Sampling Method Sources of Data: Primary- Primary data will be collected through Questionnaire. Secondary- Secondary data Collected from various sources for industry profile, company profile and literature review. Data Collection Method: There are various method like Observation Method, Depth Interview, Focus Group, Projective Technique, Experimentation, survey Method etc.

SURVEY Method is being used in this Project. Data Collection Tool: Structured questionnaire was used for the purpose of the data collection as the instrument. Questionnaire consisted of both close ended and open ended questions.